Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - IceRays set to clap Thunder one more time

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Friday, October 6, 2000

IceRays set to clap Thunder one more time
Corpus Christi will play Wichita in last warmup before regular WPHL season begins
By Matt Young
Caller-Times
The real thing doesn't start for another week, but judging by their first exhibition game, the Corpus Christi IceRays may not need that long to get ready for their season opener.
   The IceRays get a final tune-up for the regular season when they play the Wichita Thunder at 7:05 p.m. today at Memorial Coliseum. The Thunder, which plays in the Central Hockey League, didn't like what it saw from the Western Professional Hockey League on Tuesday.
   The IceRays walloped the Thunder, 10-4, in the first preseason game Tuesday.
   "For a first preseason game, I thought we looked pretty good," IceRays coach Taylor Hall said. "We played good defense, and we scored a lot of goals. There's not a lot more you can ask for than that. Another good sign was our conditioning. We've only been on the ice a few days, but some of our guys look like they've been out there a lot longer. We looked like we were in really good shape."
   Tonight's matchup should be a grudge match. When the IceRays jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period Tuesday, the game turned extremely physical. There were 11 fights in the game with several more confrontations that were stopped before the players threw any punches. Five IceRays and one Thunder player were ejected from the contest. Under WPHL preseason rules, a player is ejected if he gets into two fights in a game.
   "They're a big team, and it definitely got physical," Hall said. "I think more importantly, both teams just want to evaluate the talent on our teams. We both have some guys that we had never seen play before, so we want to be able to evaluate them as much as possible before we have to make any roster moves."
   The IceRays have 29 players on their preseason roster, and they must have that trimmed down to 20 before the season opener against Fort Worth on Thursday.
   Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com

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